Nintendo Hearts
by Lightblade77
Summary: A boy named John loses his memories and travels through Nintendo worlds to try and reclaim them. Currently discontinued. Not all that well written.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Nothing

Darkness. That was all. Darkness. Where am I? Who am I? What's going on? Am I dead? What's that? A flash? Light? Wait, what is light? So foggy. Drifting away. What's that? A voice? What's it saying? I can't hear. So tired, oh so tired. What? A word. John. Is that my name? Name. That's good. Sleep…Sleep…Sleeeeeeep…No, something's wrong…oh no…wake up…wake up…WAKE UP!!

He sat up and looked around himself. He was…floating, floating above nothing. "My name's John," he said forcefully. "But that's all…why can't I remember?" He put a hand to his head.

Suddenly a voice boomed out. "Good, you have remembered," the voice was gentle. "Good. Now sleep. Sleep is good for you. Rest. Others will take care of everything. Don't be troubled by the things of this world. Sleep."

"Yes, sleep, that's good," John began to feel drowsy again. "Sleep…good…NO!" he sat up. "Sleep is not good. I can't sleep there's something I must do I…" he frowned. "What must I do? Why can't I remember?"

"To remember would bring only pain," the voice continued. "You should rest while you can. To wake up would only hurt you even more."

"No," John said more forcibly this time. "I won't sleep. I can't." He stood up and looked around again. It was like he had noticed before. He was standing on nothing. He stood in a block of light surrounded by mist. He looked up where he imagined the voice came from. "Let me out. I don't want to stay here."

"You want to leave?" the voice sounded amused. "You're ordering me to let you go? That's the spirit. That's the boy I remember." A glow filled the room and a ball of light appeared in front of John. "You asked yourself who you are. I would answer that but you already have. You are John. That is all I can tell you right now. You must discover the rest on your own."

John nodded. "Right, let me out."

"If you insist," the voice sounded amused again. There was a flash and the ball of light turned into a door. John stepped towards it eagerly but it faded out slightly and he passed right through.

He frowned. "What's going on? You said I could go."

"Just a simple reminder," the voice said. It sounded serious. "If you leave, you can never return to this slumber of safety I offer you. Your life will always be in danger. Do you choose this path?"

"I do," John said, sounding stronger by the minute. "Anything's better then this place, right?"

The voice laughed. "I would have thought much less of you if you had not went on. Go then. Be safe."

John nodded. Finally, he could leave. He stepped through the doorway, which had reappeared, and fell into the light. He fell for minutes, hours, days, it did not matter, his senses were returning the whole way and it felt right that he should be there for so long. Finally, an opening appeared in front of him and he fell through it, face first into a patch of warm sand. He rolled over. Far above him, the sun beat down. He lay there for several moments basking in it for the first time in a long time. Then he stood and looked around himself. He was lying on a beach that stretched off into the distance. Behind him was a jungle. Good thing he hadn't landed in there. If he had he might have landed on something much harder. He was pondering where to go next when he heard a noise to his left. A humming noise.

His eyes widened as a plane, with a smoking trail behind it, dove overhead. He jumped out of the way leaving it to crash and roll across the beach. He stood and walked to the vehicle to check if the occupants were all right. How anyone could survive such a landing was beyond him. He was surprised to a yellowish-orange colored fox crawl out. It stood on its hind legs and stared at its ship critically.

"Hmmm, it will definitely need work." John was taken aback. The fox had spoken! Then the creature noticed him. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm John," he stammered. What was this place?

The fox smiled. (Can foxes smile?) "My name is Miles Prower. My friends call me Tails. How did you get here? You look kind of weird, but no more then Eggman."

"I don't really know," John realized. "I was in this weird place and then I came here. Before that I don't remember…" he looked at the ground. Was it true what the voice had said? Should he have stayed in that place? At least he wouldn't have to deal with talking animals.

"Okay," Tails thought for a moment. "I can't think of where you could have come from. People don't just drop out of nowhere, unless, maybe you came from the same place as them. The heartless. They're the reason I'm stuck on this beach with a ruined plane, and Sonic was counting on me." The fox looked sad. "I failed him."

"Hey don't take it so badly," John said. "I'm sure this Sonic guy would understand."

"You don't get it," Tails looked miserable. "It wasn't just Sonic. A lot of other creatures were counting on me to. You see, all I had to do was find Eggman but then the heartless…no, their here!"

John looked around to see several small black creatures appear around him and Tails. The creatures crouched low to the ground and had antennae sticking from their heads. They looked kind of like ants.

"_Watch out John_!" it was the voice, and it was in his head! "_These are the heartless. These ones specifically are called shadows. You need to fight them_."

"But how?" John asked. "How do I fight them?" Tails looked at him quizzically, but John ignored him.

"_There's no need to speak out loud_," the voice said. "_He can't hear me but I can hear your thoughts. Now, about beating these creatures, simply use the techniques I taught you_."

"What techniques?" John replied. "You never taught me how to fight!"

"_Not out loud_!" the voice hissed. "_Think, you can remember this. I taught you how to fight while you slept so you should be able to remember_."

John concentrated hard. His right hand moved above his head and suddenly he held a giant key-shaped blade. He swung it experimentally. It almost weightless and was easy to hold. Suddenly, one of shadows leapt at him. He stepped out of the way instinctively and swung the key. It hit the creature and the shadow exploded into a series of black bubbles and a heart floated away from it, up into the distance.

John stared at the key in amazement. A voice broke through his thoughts. "Behind you!" it was Tails. John spun around to see another of the creatures moving towards him. He swung at it but it seemed to flatten into the ground and move out of the way. He followed its path with his eyes. Then he struck at it but the key passed right through it.

"_Watch its movements_," the voice in his mind said. "_While it is 'under' the ground it can't be hurt. I would advise you to pay attention to the others until it comes out again. Watch your back boy_."

John saw the movement of his opponent out of the corner of his eye. He rotated on the spot and slashed the creature with the key. The creature disappeared and John continued past it to destroy two more of the creatures. Only two left. He saw the one that had flattened itself to the ground come back up and it leapt at him. He spun out of the way and slammed his key into the creature. Suddenly something hit him in the back, hard. He toppled to the ground and rolled over. The last of the shadows was moving towards him. He stood up and hurled himself at it and dispatched it with a single slice. He then proceeded to fall on his back and stare at the sky. "So…tired."

Tails walked over to him and stared down at him with an amazed look on his face. "That was great! You easily destroyed those creatures!"

"To tell the truth," John sighed. "It wasn't hard. I can't remember much of my past but I think I would have remembered those guys if I had seen them before. And yet I knew just how to fight them. What's up with that, Miles?"

Tails considered this for a moment. "I don't know what to tell you. There is someone who might be able to explain it though. Come on. I'll take you to him. Oh and why did you call me Miles?"

John stood up and brushed himself off. "Your real name suits you better, that's what I think. Who is this person exactly?"

Tails frowned. "Doctor Eggman."

John raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You mentioned him before. Who is this 'Eggman'?"

Tails started off down the beach. "I'll explain on the way. We have a long way to go."

Meanwhile

A shadowed figure stared out of a window. There came a knock on his door and he turned around. A young girl walked into his room.

"We've located the renegade sir," the girl said. "He's on Mobius. Do you want us to go pick him up?"

The man thought for a moment then shook his head. "No, leave him be."

The girl was surprised. "W-what? Why would you just let him go?"

The man turned back to his window. "This could get interesting. I want to see how it turns out. A human from another world appears out of nowhere on Mobius. This should bring out some fun results, don't you think?" The girl did not respond. "Well? What do you think about all of this?"

The girl was hesitant. "I…reports are coming in that the boy has some sort of power. This means we need to go get him to make sure he can't stir up trouble, right? We can't let him just run around. But even if he didn't have any power I think that we need to deal with him now. It's ridiculous to me that you would just let him go. We need him."

The man was silent for a moment. "He has power? That just makes this whole thing even more interesting. My final decision is this: we will not interfere. Not yet. It's not like he can go anywhere else. We had something like this happen before, remember? He is not leaving that planet anytime soon. Besides, the heartless will deal with him for us or have you forgotten that we sent some of them over there? We just pick up the heartless that he becomes and we do our thing."

The girl was uncertain. "I don't know, but I guess you know what's best. Alright, I'll tell the others to stand down. We can wait a little while." She left the room.

Behind her the shadowed man smiled. "Yesssssss, this should be very interesting."

EN

Thanks for reading. Please Review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Sonic

"Are we almost there?" John asked his companion.

"Yes, we are," the fox replied. "Stop being so impatient."

John sighed. He had been excited to meet this Eggman that Tails had told him about. He really hoped that Eggman knew something about memories.

"_Remember, the truth will only bring pain_," the voice in his head said.

"_Yeah, sure_," John replied. "_You just won't tell me what this truth is. Come on, what could be so bad about remembering_?" The voice stayed silent. "_Fine, don't tell me, but at least tell me this, what is that weapon that I have? How did I get it?_"

"_The weapon you wield is called a Keyblade_," the voice said. "_As for how you got it, that is part of the memories you must remember for yourself_."

"John, help!" John snapped out of his thoughts to see Tails surrounded by Heartless. There were three shadows and a strange new Heartless John had never seen before. It was about his size, it wore a helmet, had red claws, and a symbol of a heart on its chest.

"_That heartless is know as a soldier_," the voice explained.

John hurled himself at the nearest of the Heartless, which was a shadow, and summoned his Keyblade to himself. He slashed the Heartless with his weapon and the creature exploded. The other Heartless turned to face this new threat. John cut threw another shadow before it could respond. The remaining shadow jumped at him but he simply put his Keyblade in its path and it impaled itself. John turned to face the soldier. It suddenly spun towards him and kicked him in the ribs. He stumbled back, coughing.

"_Don't let you guard down_," the voice warned.

John readied himself as the soldier spun towards him again. This time he was ready. He cut the foot off of the Heartless making it stumble, then he drove the Keyblade into its chest and it exploded. The Keyblade vanished from John's hands as he turned to check on Tails.

"Are you alright?" he asked his friend.

Tails seemed shaken. "I'm alright. Whew! That was close. Thanks buddy!"

John nodded and he put his hand to his head. He felt a little dizzy. "Of course. Now, on to Eggman." He and Tails walked off down the beach. John turned to his companion with a questioning look on his face. "You said you would tell me who this Eggman was."

Tails nodded. "Yep, okay. First, his real name is Ivo Robotnik. Eggman is just a nickname Sonic made up to tease him because he does look like a large egg. Robotnik is usually the problem around here but since the Heartless showed up he dropped out of the picture. We think the Heartless attacked him or something like that but we can't be sure. That's why I was going to him myself, to see if he could help us." Tails smiled at his companion. "And maybe he can help you recover your memories!"

"That's what I'm counting on," John replied.

"Oh, look, we're here," Tails pointed to a building up ahead.

The duo walked up the building and John looked around. "I don't see any door."

Tails shrugged. "That's Eggman. He doesn't want anyone to know how to get inside, but I've seen this before. It's simple really." He reached over to a part of the wall and pressed on it. Suddenly a door opened in front of them.

John was impressed. "Nice work Miles."

Tails grinned. "Let's go." They walked into the base and began their search, but they couldn't find anything. All the hallways and rooms were empty. John was starting to worry that they wouldn't find anything but then Tails stopped in front of a door. "This should be it," the fox said. Beside the door was a keypad and Tails typed on it for a moment and the door swung open to revel a staircase. "I was right."

John blinked. "How do you know all this stuff?"

Tails tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. "I told you, we have to deal with Eggman all the time, and these are all locks and passwords that I've seen before." Then Tails sighed. "But that's what bothers me. You see, why would Eggman reuse all his old things? It's almost like he wants us to come to him."

John thought about this for a moment then began to walk up the staircase. "Well, there is only one way to find out. Come on Miles." They walked up the staircase and when they reached the top they were confronted by another door. Tails dealt with it swiftly and the two walked into the room. The room was fairly big; it contained a huge, complex computer and a man who was operating the computer. At the sound of the door opening the man turned around. He was a little taller then John but had a bulging stomach and over sized hands. John smirked. Cut off his hands and legs and he did look like an egg.

"Finally you have arriv-" the man's hopeful look changed to one of disbelief. "Wait, who are you?" he asked John. "Where's Sonic?"

Tails looked uncertain. "Sonic sent me to get you. Why do you need him?"

The man turned back to his computer and slammed his fists on it. "NO! This isn't possible! Where's that stupid hedgehog when you need him?"

"Sonic is dealing with the Heartless right now," Tails glared at Robotnik. "Where have you been? The Heartless are a threat to you too. Why aren't you helping us?"

Robotnik spun around and gave Tails a death look. "You dare to speak to the greatest scientist in the world in such a manner?" Then the man sighed and turned back to his computer. "But it doesn't matter. We're all doomed anyways. Fine, you want to know where I was. I was hiding. The Heartless ambushed me and destroyed all my robots. None of my creations could hurt them! All my great work was destroyed! Do you understand me fox boy? I have nothing to help you with. I'm ruined." Robotnik slumped into a chair next to his computer.

Tails looked at the floor defeated. "Then it's over. With Shadow gone and you like this there is no way we can win. Let's go John." Tails walked to the door.

"Wait! Shadow is gone?" Robotnik was aghast. "But he is just as strong as Sonic!" he sighed. "You're right. It is over. The only thing that is keeping me alive now is this base. The Heartless still don't know how to get in. As long as the outside door is closed I'm safe."

"Uh-oh," Tails muttered.

Robotnik sat up. "You didn't!"

"I did," Tails nodded his head miserably. Suddenly there was noise from below and they could see the Heartless coming up the stairs to the room.

"NO!" Robotnik gasped. "This can't be happening." The Heartless marched into the room and began to crawl towards them.

John had had enough. He stepped towards the Heartless and summoned his Keyblade and crouched into his fighting stance. "You monsters! I've had enough of this! I'm taking you all down!"

Robotnik's mouth dropped open. "What are you doing boy? If I couldn't beat them then you certainly can't win."

"Be quiet!" John hissed at Robotnik. "All you've done is moaned about how awful your situation is. Well I'm going to do something about this!" He faced the Heartless and counted. "_Alright, only five shadows. Not a big deal_."

"_Are you so sure John_?" the voice said. "_Be careful. Something isn't right about this_."

"_I'll be fine_," John replied. He drove into the Heartless and cut three of them down instantly. "_Looks like I'm doing all right_."

"Help!" John spun around to see Tails and Robotnik were surrounded by three soldiers. He began to move to help them but something slammed into him from behind and he fell to the floor. He stood back up to see both of the shadows moving towards him. He slashed both of them with his blade and ran over to the soldiers. He drove his Keyblade into the closest of them, destroying it. The other two turned to face him. They both spun towards him kicking at him. He rolled out of the way of their attacks and slashed one on the side of the head. It dove towards him but he stabbed it with Keyblade destroying it. He stood to face off with the last of the Heartless. It immediately began its spin attack towards him but when he thrust at it; it jumped over his attack and kicked him in the face. He fell back, but hurled himself back at it, surprising it, and slammed his Keyblade into it. It exploded and the room was finally clear.

Robotnik stared at him, amazed. "Nice work boy."

"So…tired…why?" John fell to the ground. As usual, fatigue set in after the battle. Suddenly six soldiers popped out of the ground, and surrounded John! He stood back on his feet weakly and readied himself for battle. Why did they have to come now? The soldiers all spun towards him. He raised his Keyblade to stop the Heartless in front of him but it stopped its attack. John cried out in pain as the other five Heartless kicked him. One of the Heartless tackled John, pinning his arms to the ground. One of the others moved forward and reached towards him with its claws. "No…can't…" John gasped.

John heard a shout. "Sonic!" it was Tails. He sounded gleeful. John observed as a blue blur spun above him, destroying all the Heartless with apparent ease. Tails and Robotnik were smiling. The blue blur stopped and John could see it was some kind of creature with spikes.

"That's good," John thought. "At least now they're safe." Then he drifted into darkness.

Meanwhile

The man was standing back at his window again when the girl walked into the room. He sighed as he turned to face her. "You know it is more polite to knock," he narrowed his eyes. "More healthy too."

The girl looked agitated. "I'm sorry sir but this can't wait. It's about the renegade."

The man crossed his arms. "This better be good if you ignored regulations to tell me."

"It is important," she gasped. "We've discovered his power. It's a Keyblade."

The man turned back to his window. "Go then. You go and get him. Now!" The girl nodded and rushed from the room. "_A Keyblade_," the man thought. "_How could it have gone so far_?"

EN

Thanks for the review Greggorion. You were right, knightofdestiny! The beginning did come from Riku's story in Chain of Memories. Hope everyone likes the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Fallen one

Running…someone's running…who is that…what is that…it has spikes…its black with red stripes running down its spikes…Heartless are coming…no, their attacking him…their pulling out his heart…no, it can't be…he turned into one of them…he's a Heartless…he has seen me and he's coming towards me…no, no, no, NOOOOOOOO!

John snapped awake and he sat up. He was shaking, his dream still fresh in his mind. "That's not possible," he mumbled to himself. "They can't do that; at least I've never seen it happen."

"How're you doing buddy?" a blue creature with spikes walked into the room. He was about three feet tall and had a cocky grin on his face.

"Who are you?" John asked him.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog," the creature replied. Behind Sonic came Tails and Robotnik.

"Good, you're awake," Tails said with a smile. "Man, you scared us when you fainted."

"I fainted?" John said weakly.

"Yes, you fainted," Robotnik replied impatiently. "I have a question. What kind of weapon was that you used on the Heartless?"

"What, this?" John raised his hand in the air and summoned his Keyblade. "Its something called a Keyblade. Don't bother asking how I got it, I don't remember. In fact I don't remember anything about my past or how I got here. I was hoping you would have some answers." John nodded at Robotnik.

Robotnik looked thoughtful. "I have no idea. My specialty is in robotics not the mind. I'm sorry."

John sighed. "Oh well. It was worth a try."

Suddenly alarms went off all around them. "What's wrong doc?" Sonic asked.

Robotnik stood up quickly. "It's the Heartless. They're back!"

"On it!" Sonic ran from the room. Robotnik followed him.

John tried to stand up but Tails pushed him back down. "You need the rest," the fox told him.

John sighed but stayed put. "I feel fine now. Hey, what was wrong with me anyways?"

"You overexerted yourself," Tails replied. "As far as we could tell, you were exhausted. In fact when I first saw you I thought you looked tired." Suddenly there was a noise from behind Tails and two soldier Heartless walked into the room.

John jumped out of bed, with a grin on his face, and he summoned his Keyblade again. "You can't stop me now Tails. I'm needed." When the first of the two soldiers ran forward to attack, John easily sliced through his head. He felt incredible. He swung his Keyblade above his head then extended it towards the other Heartless. "Who's next?" As if on cue six shadows appeared. John smiled as he dove into battle. He was invincible. Nothing could hurt him. When he destroyed the last shadow he turned to Tails. "I don't think there is anything wrong with me anymore."

"I agree," Tails replied. "Let's go!" They ran from the room and down a flight of stairs. Ahead of them was Sonic. He was surrounded by waves of Heartless that were pouring through the open doorway. John dove into battle and quickly dispatched a soldier and a shadow before turning back to Sonic.

"Hi, do you need any help?" John asked.

"No, but Robotnik is in his control room," Sonic replied. "You should go to him. Here, let me clear a path for you." He began to spin and blazed through the Heartless.

"Come on Tails," John said. They ran through the path Sonic opened up for them. The Heartless tried to close the gap but John's Keyblade made short work of them. They reached the other side of the battle where Sonic was waiting.

"Go up through here," Sonic told them, indicating the stairwell that they had used before to reach Robotnik's room. "I'll deal with these guys." Sonic dove back into the Heartless.

As they ran up the stairs John glanced at Tails. "How did the Heartless get in?" he asked.

"Well, we knew they could get in again," Tails replied. "Robotnik thought that since we came in the secret door the Heartless would know how to get in also."

At the top of the stairway was the locked door. Tails quickly had it open and they ran into the room. Robotnik was once more at his control panel. He turned around when they entered.

"Good," Robotnik said. "You're here. You, boy, stay by the door and keep the Heartless out." John nodded and turned back to the door.

Tails walked over to Robotnik and peered over his shoulder at his work. "What's all this stuff?" he asked.

Robotnik smiled. "I'm developing a weapon to destroy the Heartless. This weapon should be able to-"

"You better have a look at this guys," John called from across the room. Robotnik and Tails turned around to see three shadows and a black hedgehog enter the room.

"It's Shadow!" Tails gasped.

"No," John said quietly. "This isn't Shadow. Look at his chest." Tails and Robotnik's mouths dropped open when they saw the symbol of a red and black heart on Shadow. John's eyes narrowed. "You see it don't you. This is a Heartless. I saw it in my dreams. The one you know as Shadow was turned into one of those creatures."

The shadows leapt towards John but he spun out of the way. He destroyed one and turned to slash another that was creeping up on him. He dove towards the final shadow and cut it in two. He then turned to the hedgehog, Shadow, but Shadow was all ready past him. He ran towards Robotnik but Tails got in the way. Shadow punched the fox and sent him into the wall.

"NO! Tails!" John hurled himself towards Shadow and sliced at his head, but the hedgehog vanished and appeared behind him. John brought his Keyblade around but Shadow dropped beneath the strike. John brought his weapon down on Shadow's head but Shadow disappeared again. He appeared once more behind John's head and he brought his fists down in an overhead smash sending John to the floor. The hedgehog turned to Robotnik.

"No!" Robotnik yelled. "Sonic! Help!" It was no use. Shadow grabbed him, punched in a couple of keys on Robotnik's main system, and dove down into the secret tunnel that appeared, taking Robotnik with him.

"The Heartless ran off so are you guys okay-" Sonic ran into the room and looked around. "What happened here?"

Tails pulled himself back to his feet. "Shadow came, except he was different. He was a Heartless, Sonic!"

"What?" Sonic's eyes widened. "But that's crazy. How could this happen?"

John jumped to his feet. "Sonic, there's no time for this. All you need to know is that the Heartless can turn you into one of them. They got Shadow and now he's kidnapped Robotnik. You guys stay here. I'm going after Shadow." He ran off down the secret passageway.

"Wait John!" Sonic ran after him. The tunnel ended abruptly next to the tree line. John ran out the end and Sonic followed him.

"You don't need to follow me," John told him. "I can deal with this myself."

"Whatever," Sonic shrugged. "Shadow is my friend and I won't give up on him."

John sighed. "Alright then. Let's go!" They ran off into the woods. "Hey look!" John said pointing off in front of them. "There he is!" Shadow was leaping through the trees holding Robotnik.

"Yep," Sonic nodded. "And there they are!" Heartless began appearing in front of them. Sonic turned and gave John one of his classic cocky grins. "Want to take them together?"

John smiled. "Oh yeah." They ran forward and smashed into the Heartless. Sonic was spinning down the middle of the Heartless's front line and John cut down the remainder as they were stunned by the hedgehog's attack.

As they reached the forest Sonic dropped back to John. "They're thinning out. Have any ideas why?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. Wow, look out!" A tree fell down towards them and they spilt up to dodge it. CRASH! "Are you alright?" John called over the tree.

"Yeah, fine," Sonic called back. "Keep going."

They ran, one on each side of the tree, into the forest. John ran around trees, jumped over logs, and ducked under branches. All around him he could see movement. He knew the Heartless were not far off. Suddenly, one of them dove straight for his face as he was jumping over a fallen tree. He leaned backwards, allowing the creature to fly mere inches over his face. He landed on his back and skidded along a few yards. Several Heartless materialized around him and he stood crouched into his battle stance. "Bring it on," he muttered. The first Heartless, a soldier, spun towards him attempting to kick him. He flipped over it, slashing it through the head as he went. The Heartless exploded into nothing. John took the initiative and moved towards the closet Heartless, a shadow, and he cut it in half. "This is getting nowhere," he thought to himself as he battled. When he gained a moment of peace while the Heartless circled, he smiled at them, waved, and back flipped to a tree. He pushed off of the tree with his feet hard and flew over the heads of the Heartless below him. He landed a good distance away and took off through the trees. A few minutes later he found himself alone. His Keyblade vanished from his hands. "Sonic?" he called softly, just in case the Heartless were still around. "Are you there?" There was no answer. John heard voices not far away and he peeked around a tree to check it out.

"Unhand me, hedgehog!" It was Robotnik, and he had Shadow dragging him towards some kind of door that was floating in the air. John recognized it as a door similar to the one he used to get to this world. There was a man, wearing a dark cloak, standing beside the door. He was smirking at Robotnik's feeble attempts to escape. "What are you doing?" Robotnik yelled as Shadow cocked his arm back. "No! Don't-" Shadow flung Robotnik into the doorway and Robotnik disappeared into it.

The man standing beside the door stepped towards Shadow. "Good work on your first assignment," he told him. "You next one will be to turn everyone on this planet into Heartless. You understand?" The man turned away and began to move towards the doorway.

John decided to make his appearance. "You're not going anywhere," he said to the cloaked man.

The man raised an eyebrow at John. "A pathetic insect. Squash him for me Shadow." He walked into the door and it closed behind him.

"Fine, you can run away," John snarled. "We have some unfinished business Shadow!" The black hedgehog made no reply except to run towards John. John extended his Keyblade straight out in front of him but just before Shadow would impale himself on it, he vanished. John knew what was going to happen, however, and was already turning and slashing his Keyblade behind him where he knew Shadow would appear. The hedgehog appeared for a second then was gone again. John felt something shove him from behind and he stumbled forward. He turned around to face hedgehog but he wasn't there. Then he looked down. Shadow dropkicked John's legs out of under him and he tumbled to the ground while Shadow vanished once more. John stood weakly and looked around. Shadow was standing about ten feet away.

"_Just use the techniques I taught you_," the voice in John's head told him. "_Not everything I taught you was a physical strike_."

"_Well finally you show up_!" John fumed. "_Where have you been_?" He focused and let his body take over. He felt himself move to point his Keyblade at Shadow. He heard himself call out "Fire"! And he saw a fireball launch from his Keyblade at Shadow. Shadow back flipped into a tree to dodge and John took back control of his own body. He jumped up into a tree, facing Shadow.

"_Here is another trick_," the voice told him. "_Throw you're Keyblade at Shadow then call it back to you. This follows the same principles that are used in summoning your Keyblade for battle in the first place_."

John pulled his arm back and threw the Keyblade at Shadow. The hedgehog jumped into the air and John called his Keyblade back to himself. The voice was right; this was just like summoning the Keyblade. It was easy. He have to remember this move for later. Suddenly Shadow began to spin in the air above him. The hedgehog rocketed towards him and John jumped up to meet him. John pulled his Keyblade back over his head and at the last possible moment he slammed it down into Shadow. Shadow fell to the ground and lay still. John landed nearby. "This is it!" he yelled as he hurled himself at Shadow. Before he could finish Shadow off, however, the hedgehog jumped into the air and began spinning again. John could only stare in amazement as Shadow came down on him. There was no time to dodge. John was sent flying through the air and he hit down hard. He couldn't move as Shadow moved in for the kill.

Then Shadow's head snapped back up to see Sonic coming at him. Shadow jumped back as Sonic slammed into the ground where he had been moments before. "Sorry I'm late," Sonic said to John. The hedgehogs moved towards each other like lightning. Both of them were appearing and disappearing rapidly as they fought. After a few moments of equal dueling, they both spun and slammed into each other. They bounced away from each other. Then they moved at each other again. Sonic did the unexpected. Instead of trying to strike Shadow, he jumped over the black hedgehog, kicked Shadow in the back of the head knocking him down, and grabbing him by the arms. Sonic pulled Shadow back to his feet and held him up in front of John. "Strike him now!" Sonic said to John.

"What?" John was astonished.

"It's better for him to be gone then to have him go on like this," Sonic explained. "Its what he would have wanted."

John stood and stumbled over to Shadow. He raised his Keyblade, hesitated, then brought it down and sliced Shadow in two. Shadow froze and then exploded into black bubbles and a heart. Sonic and John watched Shadow's heart float up into the sky slowly. It almost seemed to be moving in slow motion. "He's gone…" John whispered. Then the heart began to glow. It fell back to the ground and began flashing suddenly there was a bright light that blinded John and Sonic. When the light was gone, so was the heart. In its place was a black hedgehog. John eyes widened, amazed. "No way. He's back. That's great…" John collapsed on the ground and fainted.

Hours Later

Sonic and John stood out on the beach. They were waiting for someone. In the distance was a small light. It floated towards them. It was the ball of light John had met in the world he had awoken in. The voice in his head had told him to wait out on this beach because it was coming for him. It had explained that his job on this world was done and he had more to do elsewhere.

"Are you ready to go?" the ball of light asked John.

"Almost," John turned back to Sonic. "Thanks buddy. I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"Don't sweat it," Sonic winked at him. "I know times are going to be rough on you from now on. But just remember this: whatever comes in your future, just smile. You'll be okay. I know you will. Goodbye!" With that the blue hedgehog ran off into the distance.

John turned back to the ball of light. "Let's go then." The ball of light transformed into a doorway and John took a deep breath and walked into it. The door was shut and was gone.

Suddenly a girl in a black cloak appeared. "Drat!" she muttered to herself. "Just barely missed them!" she sighed. "Oh well." She reached over to the point where they had vanished and dark energy began to swirl in front of her. "So that's where they went," she muttered to her self. "They're not getting away this time," she faded from view leaving the beach void of all life.

EN

Basically thanks for the reviews and please leave some more before you go.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Memories

John fell down through the air the moment he stepped into the door. This time he could feel worlds all around him as he fell. He saw strange people and creatures for the briefest of moments. Finally a gate opened up beneath him. His eyes widened. The gate was over hanging over concrete! He put out both hands in front of himself and when he fell through the gate he landed on his hands, then he pushed off with his arms, and flipped to his feet. "_Why do you drop me head first into these worlds_?" John asked furiously.

"_Sorry_," the voice replied. "_I'm still practicing_."

John sighed. "_Okay then. Where am I, and where did you go? Aren't you coming with me_?"

"_No_," the voice replied. "_It's not necessary for me to follow you around all the time. You can do some things on your own, can't you_?"

"_What if I'm attacked_?" John asked. "_What if I need you here_?"

The voice sighed. "_You're pathetic. Come on! Do you really need me? I taught you how to fight! If you need help just remember what I taught you. Seriously, you need to handle some things on your own. You never needed me before! Where is this coming from? You losing your nerve or something?_" Then the voice hesitated. "_Its more then that, isn't it_?"

John looked at the ground sadly. "_Yeah, it's just that I almost lost! If it wasn't for Sonic I would be a Heartless. I really wish you were here. I'm not sure if I can do this on my own._"

"_You can handle this_," the voice said gently. "_I know you can. Don't worry, if you get in over your head I'll be there_."

"_Thanks_," John replied. He examined his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a road of an old town. On either side of him were buildings packed in all together. He began to explore. The whole town was empty. He stopped in the middle of a back road. It was covered in dirt, and rocks. "_Where is everyone_?" he asked. Before the voice could reply he heard a crunching sound of wheels on gravel. He spun around to see a car materialize out of nowhere. It was coming straight for him! He crouched and jumped up into the air, over the car. The vehicle zipped under him and vanished a little ways on. "_What's going on around here_?" he asked as he landed. "_What is this world_?"

The voice hesitated, and then said. "_This is an artificial world, so it had no name. It was created by your memories. Keep walking, I want to show you something_."

John was surprised, but kept going. He walked through the town and exited on the other side, but instead of a landscape stretching out in front of him all he saw was a wall of mist. "Hey, this is like the world I woke up in!" John exclaimed.

"_There is no need to talk out loud_," the voice told him. "_But yes, you are right. The world you woke up in was very much like this world. This mist marks the end of the world and the beginning of the void. Examine it if you wish but be careful not to step in or you will be lost forever._"

John shook his head. "I don't need to see it closer up. This is fine, but you haven't answered my other question. What was that car doing there? Where did it go?"

"_I see you are intent on speaking out loud_," the voice said.

"There's no reason to speak in my mind now," John replied. "Nobody is going to give me weird looks for talking to myself."

"_If that is what you wish_," the voice replied. "_Perhaps I should explain this world in more detail. This place was created by your memories so I would assume that the car was related to you in some way_."

"What?" John was surprised. "You mean that I was in that thing? But why would they want to run me over?"

The voice sighed. "_They can't hurt or see you. That car would have gone right through you if you had stood still. Now, you might not have been in that car. It is just as possible someone was talking about you_."

John frowned. "But you said this was a world created by my memories. Why wouldn't I be in that car?"

"_Precisely_!" the voice said. "_You got it right. This is a world made by your memories. However, your memories are trickier then you thought. They created a world, not just you and the people you see. Although, I believe that is all you will see here, after all, what's more important to you? The things others see or just things relating to yourself?_ _That is why the car might not have had you in it. Your memories drew out everything about you_."

John frowned. "That's weird." Then he heard talking nearby. He turned around to notice two women talking together.

"Have you seen their new baby?" one of the women said to the other.

"Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?" the other said to her. "I was planning on visiting them today. Would you like to come along?" The other lady nodded and they walked off.

That was when John noticed a Heartless up in the air above him. It hadn't noticed him yet but it was watching the women as they walked. "Hey, do you think the Heartless can touch these people?" John asked the voice.

"_No_," the voice replied. "_These people are memories, nothing more. The Heartless cannot touch them_."

"That's good," John said, relieved. He was glad that he wouldn't have to worry about someone else getting in the way. It was hard enough beating these creatures already without having to protect someone. "What kind of Heartless is that?" John asked.

"_I believe it's called an air soldier_," the voice replied. Then the Heartless turned away from the women as they vanished. It saw John and began to approach. "_I believe we've been spotted_," the voice said in a bored voice.

"Hmmm, that appears to be the case," John observed as more Heartless began to rise from the ground. "Oh well. Its been getting boring anyways. _Two soldiers and five shadows to deal with, not bad_." He rolled under the air soldier as it dove down towards him, summoned his Keyblade, and cut down two shadows. A soldier shoved him with both hands and he stumbled into a shadow as it leaped at him. He fell back and the Heartless charged, apparently trying to take initiative on their slight advantage. Their reeeeally slight advantage. John was back up and hacking before the Heartless knew what hit them. He dealt with one of the shadows and a soldier. The remaining soldier moved towards him cautiously but was gone with one swipe of the Keyblade. One of the last shadows was destroyed as it impaled itself on the Keyblade in mid leap and the other was gone before it could move. The final Heartless, the air soldier, held back and looked for an opening. Now that its comrades were gone its planned surprise attack went with them. It hovered just out of reach. Then John had an idea. He raised the Keyblade's point and aimed it right at the Heartless. "Fire!" he called out and a fireball flew from his Keyblade, slammed into the Heartless, and knocked it to the ground where John made short work of it.

"_You're getting much better at this aren't you_?" the voice said approvingly. "_Good work. You even remembered the Fire spell I taught you_."

"Thanks," John said with a grin. Suddenly the air around them began to churn and John felt the ground begin to spin. The world began to spin rapidly and things began to change. The buildings around them began improving, growing, or were knocked down and rebuilt. "What's going on?" John shouted. Finally it was over and he fell to the ground hard. He stood gingerly. "What was that?"

"We seem to have hit a time warp," the voice said amused. "Apparently your memories don't believe the last few years were necessary to watch."

Then they appeared. It was the ladies from before except John could tell they were older. They were talking quietly and with frowns on their faces. John moved closer to listen. "…it's perfectly ridiculous. They let him run around and do whatever he wants. He turning into a horrible person and if his parents don't stop him he is going to get someone killed someday!"

The other wasn't so sure. "I'm not certain if he would go that far. I think his parents will stop him if he goes too far. At least, I hope so…" their voices drifted off as they walked away and vanished.

John stood there stunned. "What was all that about?" he asked the voice.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" a voice came from behind him. John turned to see a red haired girl wearing a dark cloak walk towards him. "After all, this is your mind."

"Who are you?" John eyes narrowed in suspicion. The girl's cloak reminded him of the boy who organized Robotnik's kidnapping.

"Don't be that way," the girl smiled at John. "I'm just here with an offer for you. You want to hear it?"

"Sure," John replied.

"We, that is to say the group I work with, would like you to join us," the girl said.

"Join you?" John asked suspiciously. "Aren't you the people that kidnapped Robonik? What exactly are you people doing?"

The girl grinned. "We steal memories."

"What?" John blinked in surprise.

"You heard me," the girl snapped. "We steal memories."

"But how?" John asked. Then he frowned. "Did you take my memories?"

"No," she shook her head. "We didn't get your memories. If we had you wouldn't be here right now. That's the weird part though. You see when we tried to take your memories something happen. In fact, a lot of things happened. To make a really long and boring story short: you got away. That's right," she said as his eyes widened. "You escaped from us. We had no idea where you had gone. Then you reappeared on Mobius, that hedgehog's world."

John thought about this for a moment. "Alright, you steal memories. "What do you do with them?"

"We absorb them," she replied. "We drain all the power and energy stored in them and we use them to get stronger."

"So that's why you want me to join?" John glared at her. "Just so that you can suck away my memories?"

"Nah," she waved her hand dismissively. "We don't want your memories. We want you and your Keyblade with us. What do you say?" John considered this then raised his right hand into the air. "What is it?" she asked him.

Suddenly his Keyblade was in his hand and he crouched into his battle stance. "You're lying. You do want my memories. I see it now. You just want me out of the way!"

The girl glared at him. "You're making a mistake."

"I don't think so," John replied. He jumped at her and swung his Keyblade down at her.

She jumped out of the way. "That's how you want it, fine," She summoned twin hook swords to her hands. "Let's do this." She moved towards John as a blur. He was taken by surprise at her speed and he barely got his Keyblade in the way to block her attack. Their weapons clashed and John allowed his body to take over the battle. His arms moved like lightning and deflected her strikes. He threw a couple of his own but she blocked them and latched one of her swords over his weapon. She yanked his Keyblade to the ground and held it there. "Got you!" she said. She swung her other sword at John and he did the unexpected. He moved forward, grabbed her face with his free hand, and slammed her back into the ground. She was momentarily stunned, allowing him to free his Keyblade and run off down the street. She stood and raced after him. "Come back here!" she shouted.

"Come and get me!" John replied. He leapt onto a one story building and began leaping up the buildings with ease. The girl followed close behind. "_Where are you voice_?" John asked in his head. "_I need you now_!" John flipped over a building, spun around, and threw his Keyblade at the girl. She put her hook swords together and the Keyblade reflected off and spun away.

"_I'm coming John_," the voice said. "_Be patient_."

John summoned his Keyblade back to him, landed on a building and got ready for battle. "_Hurry_!"

"Stop running away!" the girl yelled at him as she landed nearby.

"I'm not moving, am I?" John responded calmly. The girl hurled herself forward and they began again. John felt himself growing weary all of a sudden. "_Why does this keep happening_?" he thought to himself. That was when the girl found an opening. She dove in slashing and John barely managed to pull back in time, even so he was thrown across the roof.

The girl laughed. "It's over!" she flung herself towards him and raised her swords. Suddenly a lightning bolt fell from the sky and blasted her away.

"I'm here John," it was the voice's ball of light form floating down from the sky. "Don't worry."

The girl stood weakly. She saw the ball of light and her eyes flashed angrily. "You!" The ball of light responded with another lightning bolt. The girl raised her swords to block it, but it blew her off the roof.

"Good," John fell to his knees. "You're here."

"Stand up John," the voice commanded. It turned from a ball of light into a doorway. "Step in here." John wearily stood and stumbled into the doorway. The door vanished.

The girl jumped back up on the roof, saw that they were gone, and shrieked in fury.

The ball of light appeared in front of her. "He's safe now. You will never have him."

The girl slammed her blades together and began to gather darkness on them, but the ball of light was already gone.

EN

Thanks for reading. Please review if you liked this chapter. If you didn't like this chapter then you are weird and I do not like you. Okay, on a more serious note, I'm writing another story called Zatch Bell 3001. I started the Zatch story a little while ago and I'm still working on it. Please read the Zatch story. It maybe a while before I get back to this one. In other words either a couple days or a week.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Kingdom of the Mushrooms

John looked around himself. He was floating in darkness. "Welcome," a deep voice boomed out from all around him. "You've finally arrived where you belong."

"What is this place?" John asked. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"You are where you should be," the voice continued. "Here with us in the darkness. We will give you everything you ever wanted. You will be more powerful then anything!"

"The darkness?" John frowned. "I belong in the darkness? What are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" the voice was amused. "Your heart belongs to the darkness. This is what you did to yourself."

"What do you mean?" John shouted. "Why won't you just tell me?" He felt something tug on him and he was yanked back to reality. He opened his eyes. He was surrounded by grassland. He stood up carefully and looked around. There was no one in sight.

"_It's about time you woke up_," it was the voice in his head.

"Yeah," John replied. "Hey, thanks for helping me out back there. You know, against that girl? Who was she anyways?"

The voice was quiet for a moment as if it was contemplating his question. "_She was one of the servants of darkness," it said, carefully. "Well, that was kind of obvious I guess. You've met plenty who serve the darkness. The Heartless are one example. Anyways, I guess it's about time to tell you some things. There is a group who steals memories from people. You already know all about them of course. The girl explained all that, but what she didn't tell you is why specifically they want your memories_." The voice gave a sigh. "_I should have told you all this from the beginning. Okay, as you know from the world your memories created, you were not always a good person. Your heart was so steeped in darkness that those people, like the girl you met, were very interested in you. When they got their chance at stealing your memories they went all out, but I stopped them. I took you to a safe place, in other words the world that you first woke up in. You know the rest_."

John was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Why would they want me now? I don't remember anything. I'm empty, I have no memories that they could steal."

"_They don't know that_," the voice said simply. "_And I would not advise telling them. They would only try harder to remove you_."

"But why?" John asked. "Why would they be so interested in someone who doesn't have any memories for them to steal?"

"_It's your Keyblade_," the voice replied. "_They fear it. It is a symbol of the good in you and they have no intention of letting its power grow. And now that you know about them, they're feeling slightly threatened. I'm sorry, but there is no way to just ignore this_."

"Fine then," John began to walk across the grassland. "I'll just have to get stronger. When I do I'll take them down, one by one." He walked on in silence. After several minutes of walking he noticed something in the distance. He ran towards it. It turned out to be a brick road stretching off into the distance. He was about to start along the path when he heard a roaring sound coming from somewhere above him. That was when he saw it. Far up in the sky was a ship, or at least that is what it looked like. It flew on past him and as he wondered how someone had managed to make a ship fly he heard a shout.

"Come back here!" it was a small man wearing a red shirt, blue overalls, and a red hat with a letter M on it. The man crashed into John and they both fell to the ground. The man stood up quickly. "Are you all right?" he asked John.

"I'm fine," John replied.

"Good, sorry!" the little man then raced off in the direction the ship had flown in and he soon vanished into the distance.

John sighed and walked on. As he went, he noticed blocks filling the sky above him. Some of the blocks were brick and some others had a question mark on them. John was too focused on the floating objects to watch were he was going. His right foot got caught on one of the loose bricks of the road he was walking on and he tumbled forward and bashed his head into one of the question mark bricks. It exploded and a gold coin fell out of it. John frowned and picked up the golden object. He shrugged and put it in his pocket. Suddenly, several Heartless burst from the ground and surrounded him. John raised an eyebrow at them. "What took you so long?" he asked. The closet Heartless, a soldier, responded with a spin kick. John sidestepped and stabbed it through the middle. He spun and destroyed a shadow, then jumped over the Heartless in front of him and slashed them through their backs. He fought for about twenty more seconds then stopped. There wasn't a Heartless in sight. He grinned. He had fought this battle without taking a single hit. He then stumbled, suddenly overcome by dizziness.

"_Hmmm, the old weariness again huh_?" the voice sounded sympathetic. "_Take a break if you wish. We have all the time in the world_."

"No," John gasped. "I will reach whatever this road leads to. I can't stop now. There's no time to take a break." He stumbled on and strangely enough, he seemed to grow stronger, not weaker, as he walked. Soon he was back to his usual self. "See? As long as I keep moving I'll be okay," John said with a grin. Soon a castle came into view and John walked right up to it. There were two guards standing at the doorway. They were holding spears.

"Halt!" one of the guards ordered. John examined to creatures and he chuckled. They looked like walking mushrooms.

"What are you laughing at?" the other guard said.

John grinned at them. "It's just that I've never seen anyone who looks like you two."

The first guard turned to the other and frowned. "Was that a compliment?"

"Hey, can I have your attention?" John said impatiently. "What do you call this place? I've never been anywhere like it."

The guards stood up straight. "You are in the land called the Mushroom Kingdom. We-" They didn't get to finish because of a scream that came from inside the palace. "What's going on?" the second guard asked his partner.

Before he could answer, John ran between them into the palace. "Hey! Come back here!" the first guard called after him. The guards chased him into the palace. They caught up to him where he stood frozen in the entrance hall. "You can't just walk in here…" they stopped in their tracks. It was chaos, the whole hall was wrecked and mushroom people were running away from the center of the hall. Several plant-like Heartless had grown straight from the floor and more Heartless poured from the gap. "What's going on?" one of the guards asked.

"Stand back!" John shouted at them. He summoned his Keyblade and dove into battle. He slashed a shadow as it poked its head through the floor and he flung himself at the other Heartless. "_Three shadows, two soldiers, and three of these plant things_," he thought to himself.

"_The 'plant things' are called creeper plants_," the voice told him.

"Hey thanks," John muttered back. "Now that I know that, what do I do with it?" He cut through a shadow and a soldier and ducked under an attacking shadow while holding his Keyblade above his head. The shadow was cut in half as it flew over him. He destroyed another shadow and sidestepped the soldier before stabbing it. "Now on to the creepers," John grinned. He charged the three creeper plants, which were all massed together, and he raised his Keyblade up above his head. Suddenly a root burst out of the ground under him and tripped him up, causing him to fall on his back. Then one of the creeper plants lowered its head and launched seeds at John. He raised his arms to protect his face, but he was hit hard and sent flying. John stood weakly and swayed on the spot. "_No, I still haven't gotten my power back from my last fight_," he thought to himself. "_Better end this quickly_." He examined the Heartless carefully, and then he ran towards them again. "_Wait for it, now_!" He jumped into the air above the Heartless as the root came out of the ground underneath him. He swung his Keyblade at the Heartless, as he came back down, and destroyed all three of them. John then hit the ground and collapsed from exhaustion.

A Long While Later

John opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying in a bed inside the palace. Standing all around him were the mushroom people. They stared curiously at him. When they saw he was awake they began asking questions and talking rapidly.

"Who are you?"

"How did you beat the Heartless?"

"You're amazing!"

"Out of the way!" an older mushroom person stepped forward. "Are you all right?" he asked John.

John nodded. "I think so. Who are you?"

The older mushroom puffed himself up proudly. "I'm Toadsworth. I'm Princess Peach's steward. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"I'm great," John sighed sadly.

"What's wrong?" Toadsworth asked anxiously.

"It's just that…" John sighed again. "I don't know. Every time I fight a Heartless I feel so weak. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Toadsworth began muttering to himself and he walked a little ways off. "No…it couldn't be…"

"What is it?" John asked. "Do you know what's wrong with me?"

Toadsworth gave John a suspicious glance. "What have you done boy?" he sounded slightly angry. "What evil have you done?"

"I don't remember," John replied nervously. "I really don't. All my memories are gone. But I do know that I have done things…let's just say I know I've done something but I don't remember what it was. But, how does this relate to anything?"

Toadsworth sighed wearily. "This is all a theory of course but lately, since the Heartless arrived, I've been interested in hearts. Not just hearts but emotions. I researched everything I could and I came up with one thing. The only people who can hurt a Heartless are those who have good intentions in their hearts. Those who have evil in their hearts cannot hurt the Heartless. That would lead me to one conclusion in this matter. You have both dark and light in you."

John looked down. "Then it was true. I am a bad person."

"Not completely," Toadsworth said quickly. "If you can hurt the Heartless then you do have good in you. The only question is: how much?"

John shrugged. "I don't know." He got out of the bed. "Thank you for helping me. If there is anything I can do, just ask." He turned to leave.

Toadsworth suddenly looked distracted. "I do have a request."

John turned back to him. "What is it?"

"I would like you to help save our Princess," Toadsworth told him. "She was kidnapped by the evil Bowser, King of the Koopas. Bowser is always trying to steal away the princess but our friend Mario is always around to help. He went after her but I am afraid for him. Could you go and see if he needs any assistance?"

"Yes," John nodded. "I can. Where is it I should go?"

Toadsworth worth beckoned him over to a window. The mushroom pointed straight out the window. "Go in that direction to reach Bowser's lair."

John raised an eyebrow. "Not very secretive is he? Don't worry; I'll see what I can do. Wait, you never told me what Mario looks like."

"Oh, sorry," Toadsworth replied. "Well, he wears a red shirt with blue overalls and he has this red hat with an M on it. He also wears brown shoes."

Joho smiled. "Hey, I met that guy."

Toadsworth was surprised. "You have?"

"Yep," John smiled. "He knocked me down while he was chasing an airship. I didn't catch his name though. So that's Mario. Don't worry, I'll find him." A few minuets later John stepped out of the castle and he started off in the direction Toadsworth had showed him, onward to Bowser's keep.

Meanwhile

The dark man stood at his window in silence. She was coming, he could sense her. What was this? She was scared. That meant she had failed.

The girl stepped into the room cautiously. She spotted him and ran over to him. "Sir, I have something to tell you-"

"You failed," the man spoke with a deadly calm voice. "That what you came to tell me, Celia?"

Celia was surprised but she quickly recovered. "Yes, but that's not all. He had help. It's him. He's back sir."

The man spun around. "No! That can't be…fine. Get me Lucius. He will be needed."

The girl was shocked. "Lucius? Why him? He's crazy! He'll destroy everything!"

The man narrowed his eyes. "Celia, this is very important. We have to destroy this child before he learns too much. We can't let him get any stronger."

The girl nodded. "A-all right, I'll go." She left the room quickly.

The man sighed. "So he has returned…finally, I'll end him for what he did."

EN

I hope everyone likes this chapter. Please Review. I know there were some things in this chapter that may seem to contradict the regular Kingdom Hearts storyline but don't worry. I know what I'm doing.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: King of the Koopas

John walked down the brick path happily. "Good, now we have something to do," he said.

"_You just needed a goal, didn't you_?" the voice in his head said, amusedly. "_Enjoy it while you can. I've heard of Bowser as I traveled the worlds myself. This may be a tough battle_."

"I doubt it," John said. "That Mario guy wasn't very big, so naturally Bowser probably isn't that tough. Besides, we're just going to check on Mario." Then he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Wait up!" John turned around to see that it was one of the mushroom people running towards him. "Good, I caught up to you before you got to Bowser's place. My name's Toad. I want to come with you."

John raised an eyebrow. "You want to come with me? You know it will be dangerous, right?"

Toad shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I want to come along. I want to help save Princess Peach. Besides, I know where Bowser's castle is. You know the basic direction but what if you get off course?"

John sighed. "Fine, can you fight?"

Toad shook his head sadly. "No, I'm sorry. I wish I could but it's always been Mario who fights."

"Come along then if you like," John replied. He headed off down the path with Toad behind him.

They walked for a least an hour before finally arriving at the gate of Bowser's castle. Standing guard outside the castle were two turtles with green shells.

"Those are Koopas," Toad explained, pointing at the turtles.

"Well they're about to be gone," John replied. He ran towards the Koopas, surprising them at his sudden appearance, and he sent them flying with two quick strikes of his Keyblade. "That takes care of the guards," John said. Suddenly, two soldier Heartless burst out of the ground in front of him and they grabbed him and threw him away from the gate. He jumped to his feet and charged towards the soldiers, destroying one of them easily with a quick thrust. The other slammed into him and they both tumbled across the ground. Suddenly, the soldier stiffened and exploded, revealing John holding his Keyblade with its point straight up. John stood and dusted himself off. "Now THAT should be all the guards," he crouched into a battle position ready to fight off any more sneak attacks.

"Yeah," Toad walked up to John. "That was all the guards this time. I don't think they expected anyone to survive the Heartless attacks. Just one question, how do we get in?"

"Hmmm," John stared at the drawbridge. "You have a point. I've got it!" He lowered his Keyblade and pointed it straight at the bridge. "Fire!" he shouted. A ball of flame launched from his Keyblade and struck the drawbridge and the bridge caught on fire.

"How is that supposed to help?" Toad yelled at John furiously. "The bridge will burn up and no one will be able to cross!"

It was that moment when the bridge was opened and it fell into place before John and Toad. Three Koopas charged across the bridge towards them. John threw his Keyblade at the oncoming Koopas. WHAMWHAMWHAM! The Koopas were scattered before the Keyblade. John reached over to Toad, picked him up, stuck him under his arm, and ran across the bridge, making it to the other side just as the bridge burned all the way through and collapsed. John set Toad down wearily. "Well, we made it."

Toad stared at John in astonishment. "Remind me never to come with you on another adventure. How did you know the enemies would come out when you burned the drawbridge?"

John smiled faintly. "I figured the Koopas would not be happy if their bridge would be destroyed, so I just took the chance."

"You're crazy," Toad said.

John smiled at him. "Alright, let's go now." They walked off through the halls of Bowser's castle. John was beginning to feel slightly nervous. "Where are all the guards?" he asked.

Toad looked slightly calmer. "I was wondering that too, but then I realized that something must have happened to Mario. That's the only explanation for why Bowser is being so lax on security. Even so, let's be careful."

John stopped moving and stared at the ceiling. He had just seen something move. "Toad! Get down!" John tackled Toad as a Heartless dropped from the ceiling towards them. John examined the creature. It was a giant, ball shaped Heartless. It was solid black and it had a jack-o'-lantern-like face. It also had three tentacles poking out from it. As John saw all of this, four more of the Heartless dropped from the ceiling and all five surrounded John and Toad.

"_These are called darkballs_," the voice told John drily. "_I thought I should tell you._ _That is, if you even care to know what they are_."

"_Okay, I'm sorry I was kind of rude about those creeper plant Heartless's names_," John shot back as he rolled under an attacking darkball. "_But if you want to talk it over, please wait until after this fight_." He leapt into the air and slashed one of the darkballs. It shook for a moment then began swinging in all directions. John was hit hard and he slid back away from the Heartless. Two of the darkballs converged on Toad.

"NO! John help meeeee…" Toad was carried off by the Heartless.

"Toad!" John hurled himself upon the nearest darkball and he began hacking at it until it exploded. "Let…him…go!" he threw himself towards the remaining two. One of them dove at him but he rolled under it, slashing it as he went. It also exploded and John stood to face the last darkball, but it was gone. "Come back!" John yelled, but it was pointless. The halls remained empty. John sighed and continued down the tunnel that he and Toad had been following. After several minutes he reached a fork in the tunnel. One tunnel went downward into the earth and the other led upwards. "Hey, voice guy," John said. "Which way should we go?"

"_You're looking for Mario and Toad,_" the voice said. "_So I would say, go downward. That's where the dungeons usually are_."

"Why are the dungeons underground?" John asked as he began walking down the sloping path.

"_I think it has something to do with the fact that they want their prisoners to be miserable."_

"That's no fun," John said.

The voice sighed. "_That's the point._"

Finally John reached the end of the path and walked into a room that was filled with prisons. "Hey, you were right," he said.

"Who's there?" a voice came from down the tunnel. John walked along the cages until he reached one which had an occupant. It was Mario who was sitting in the cage. "Oh, it's you," Mario said. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you work for Bowser."

"I don't," John shook his head. "I'm here to see how you're doing. It's not working out to well for you, huh?"

Mario grinned. "Nope."

"Well, I better get you out then," John summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the bars. "Fire!" he shouted and a ball of flame slammed into the bars, turning them red. "While the metal is hot, it's weak," John explained to Mario, who had a confused look on his face. John struck the bars with the Keyblade and they bent inward and broke, just enough so that Mario could squeeze out. That was when John realized, there were no guards. "Mario where are the…" Four darkballs dropped from the ceiling and surrounded them. "Never mind," John said as he and Mario got back to back and prepared to fight.

The first darkball moved in to strike at Mario, but the little man jumped above it and landed on its head, kicking it towards the floor. John slashed the Heartless to pieces before hurling his Keyblade at another, slicing it in two. "Nice work," Mario commented to John.

"Not bad yourself," John replied as he summoned his Keyblade back to himself. "Here they come!" One of the remaining two Heartless dove towards them.

"Point your weapon forward!" Mario shouted to John. Mario then leapt over the charging Heartless and spun, hitting it with his fists and sending it flying to impale itself on John's Keyblade. "Good, only one left," Mario commented as he ran back to John. Suddenly the final Heartless was between them and it slammed into Mario, then reversed, with incredible speed, and slammed into John. Both fighters were sent spinning away from the Heartless. They both leapt to their feet and charged at the Heartless. It began jerking all over the place and it was all they could do to dodge its wild thrusts in their direction.

"_This is crazy_!" John thought. "_We've come so close to winning and all it takes is one of these guys to beat us? I'm not going to give up this easily! Wait, there is a pattern to his movement. I've got it_!" He dove under its attack and rolled to the middle of its attack pattern. He then began slash where it would move next. The Heartless exploded and vanished.

Mario stared at him in amazement. "Nice one. By the way, my name is Mario. What's yours?"

"My name is John," John told him. "We better get to the Princess, that you're supposed to be saving, soon. Also, we need to…" There was suddenly a loud noise from above that sounded like cheering. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Mario replied. "Do you think you could get us there?"

"Probably," John said. "This castle isn't too complicated. Hey, shouldn't you know this?"

At this Mario looked embarrassed. "Actually, I was struggling with my guards so much that I didn't know where they were taking me."

"Well, mostly it's just a basic straight forward path. Let's go." They ran up the path until they reached the fork and John showed Mario the way he hadn't taken. They finally reached a door and when they opened it they saw before them a huge arena filled with a ton of Koopas. A strip of land connected the middle of the arena to the main area. Standing in the middle of the arena was a massive Koopa who was holding a cage that contained a blond girl, who was wearing a pink dress and a crown. "That would be Princess Peach, I assume?" John said, pointing at the girl.

Mario nodded gravely. "Yep, that's her, and that's Bowser who has her."

"It would have to be him, wouldn't it?" John sighed sadly.

They could hear Bowser calling out to the Koopas in the crowd. "We are finally prepared for an all out invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom. As you can see, the Princess herself has graced us with her presence and I have Mario locked away down below. All of our main enemies are defeated! Be prepared my army! We will attack soon!"

Mario ground his teeth in frustration. "I can't listen to this any longer. Come on!" He ran down the area with John close behind. "We're ending this now Bowser!" Mario shouted at the giant turtle.

"You!" Bowser narrowed his eyes in fury at Mario. "How did you escape?"

"I had help!" Mario pointed at John. "But that's not important because I'm taking you down right now!"

"Guards!" Bowser roared. "Get them out of here!" Mario began to step forward towards the Koopa king but John put a hand on his shoulder.

"No, please allow me to do this," John told him.

"What?" Mario spun around. "Why you?"

"Because," John began. "I need to fight this battle. There are these guys I need to beat and if I can't even beat Bowser then I may as well give up. There is no way I can beat the darkness. Please, let me fight this battle."

"Fine," Mario sighed. "I'll deal with the small fry then." He ran over to the pathway connecting the arena to the stands, and he began fighting the Koopa guards that were gathering there.

"I've never met you before," Bowser said with a touch of curiosity in his voice. "Who are you?"

"My name is John," John said to him. "I'll be your challenger for today. Get ready!" He summoned his Keyblade and hurled himself at the giant turtle. Bowser slashed at John with his claws but John deflected his attack and struck Bowser on the center his shell with the Keyblade. To his surprise, the Keyblade bounced off and Bowser punched him across the arena.

Bowser chuckled wickedly. "You should have let Mario fight me. At least he knows that nothing gets through my shell!"

John jumped to his feet and moved towards Bowser but the Koopa opened his mouth and launched a massive fireball a John. John rolled out of the way of the attack but before he could do anything else he was faced by another fireball. He began running along the edge of the arena with fire slamming into the ground behind him as he went. "_This isn't good_," he thought to himself. "_I can't run forever and he knows it. Well, I'll just have to improvise_." John dove under the fire barrage and jumped right up in front of Bowser's face. "Surprise!" he shouted as he slammed his Keyblade into the turtle's cheek. Bowser stumbled back but quickly balanced himself.

The Koopa narrowed his eyes at John. "Very good. Maybe you'll live up to Mario's standards then. They did tell me you were strong, well, they were right, weren't they?"

John's eyes widened. "Who is this 'them' your talking about?"

Bowser smiled. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you? The 'them' I'm referring to are the same ones who gave me control of the Heartless. Those creatures are invaluable, they are near invulnerable and they are good for keeping my followers in line. If one of my people betrays me then I have them turned into a Heartless. They never disobey an order again!"

John glared back at Bowser. "You monster! How dare you control others in that way! I'm finishing you now!" As John moved forward, two darkball Heartless appeared from the ground all around Bowser. They dropped a small figure at Bowser's feet and he picked it up.

"You see this?" Bowser showed John who he was holding. It was Toad! "This is one of those weak Mushroom people. If you try to attack me again, I will destroy him! Now surrender to my Heartless."

John sighed and pointed his Keyblade at the ground, but as Heartless moved towards him, he was thinking rapidly. "_What can save us now? Wait…I remember now. I hope this works_." John looked up at Bowser. "Hey, Bowser! Can I at least say something before I go?"

Bowser grinned at him. "Of course you can, but make it…"

John pointed his Keyblade at Bowser. "Freeze!" A blast of ice hit Bowser's open mouth and froze it solid. The Koopa king was stunned for a moment but John could see flames starting to come up the turtle's throat to melt the ice. John darted forward and scattered the oncoming Heartless with a swipe of his Keyblade. He charged at Bowser, who swung at him weakly with his free arm, but John jumped over the attack and raised his Keyblade over his head. He smashed the weapon down on Bowser's head, forcing him to bite down into the ice and shatter it. Bowser screamed in pain as small pieces of ice dug into his jaw. The Koopa king looked around for John but the Keyblade master was nowhere to be found. Then Bowser looked down. "Hi," John said from below him. WHAM! John hit Bowser on the bottom of his jaw with the Keyblade and Bowser was thrown off the arena and fell into the pit surrounding it.

"Help me!" John looked around for the source of the noise and saw two tiny arms holding onto the edge of the pit. He ran forward and pulled the creature up. It was Toad. "Thanks John!" Toad said.

John nodded. "I'm glad you're all right. Wait, what about…" He stood and turned around to see the Koopa guards in disarray. They were fleeing before Mario, who turned around, saw John and Toad, and ran over to them.

"I knew you had won when they started to run away," Mario said.

"You didn't do to bad yourself," John replied. Mario was okay as far as he could tell, just a couple of cuts and that was all. "How many of them did you get?"

"Well," Mario pointed to a pile of Koopas stacked on the path to the arena. "I'm not sure but I think there is about thirty of them over there."

John grinned. "Nice. Well, you guys ready to pack up and head home?" The others nodded, they got Princess Peach out of her cage, and they left.

Meanwhile

The dark man stood holding an opening created from darkness. He grinded his teeth in fury as he watched Bowser be defeated by John. A knock came from the door behind him. "Come in," he said while closing the gate and turning around to greet his visitor.

A young boy in his teenage years strutted into the room. He grinned cockily at the dark man who stared at him impassively. "What do you want, boss?" the boy asked.

The dark man narrowed his eyes. "You took long enough getting here."

The boy was unfazed. "I don't come running even if it's you calling me. I get here in my own time."

"You've heard of the renegade, haven't you?" The man said, ignoring the boy's rudeness. "He just took out Bowser. I want you to go deal with him."

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Of course boss." The boy turned to leave but the man called him back.

"You should know," the man said carefully. "The boy has help. He's back. Be very careful Lucius. You know what he can do."

The boy smiled. "Having him back just adds to the fun. I'll take them both down." He walked from the room leaving the man behind to ponder.

EN

Hope you all liked the chapter. Please review. I'll be working on the next chapter for my other story so it may be a day or two before I get back to this.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Return to Memory

It took John three days to leave the Mushroom Kingdom. The mushroom people didn't want him to leave. They just kept making more reasons for him to stay longer such as feasts and other celebrations thanking him for his help. Throughout all the celebrating they kept asking him to stay on as a full time protector like Mario, but John refused. He knew he couldn't stay. There were many other worlds he had to travel to, and aid in his quest. When it finally came time to leave, Mario led John out of the castle and down the brick road a little ways.

"Well, this is it," John said. "Goodbye Mario."

Mario nodded. "Yes, it is goodbye, but there is one last thing I want to say. You told me you lost your memories, right? Well, that got me thinking. I know that even if I lost my memories, there is no way I could ever forget Toad, Princess Peach, and all the other mushroom people of this place. Somewhere in ours hearts, we will always remember those we love. I think that your memories are connected to those who are precious to you. If you remember the ones you love then you have your memories. The two go together."

John considered this then smiled at the small plumber. "Thanks Mario. I'll remember that." Mario waved at John and walked off back up the brick path to the castle. John smiled. "Hey voice. Do you think Mario is right? Are memories connected to the people you know?"

"_Of course_," the voice said. "_When you were in the world your memories created, you saw other people, didn't you? Now come, it is time to continue_." A ball of light fell from the sky and it transformed into a doorway.

John walked towards the door then froze. "Wait, voice, could you tell me the names of the people I know?" There was no answer. "Voice? _That's strange_." John shrugged and walked through the door. As it closed behind him the voice, in its ball of light form, fell from the sky.

The ball of light floated around agitatedly. "No! This isn't good…"

As John fell through the worlds, he felt vibrations. "That's weird. This has never happened before. Do you know what's going on voice?" Still there wasn't any answer. John frowned. Something was definitely wrong. An opening appeared far below him and as he fell towards it he could see there was concrete on the other side! He put his hands out to brace his fall as he fell out of the gateway into the new world. He slammed into the concrete and rolled across the ground. "Ouch," he muttered as he stood. "Where am I?" He was standing in the middle of slab of concrete and past the concrete was mist. The world was only about twenty feet long in all directions.

Suddenly another gate appeared in the sky and a young man in a black cloak fell out of it and gently floated to the ground. He had blonde hair and wasn't much taller then John. The man smiled at John. "Welcome to my world."

"Who are you?" John asked suspiciously. "Are you another one of the memory stealing people?"

"My name is Lucius," The man said. "And no, I don't steal the memories; I just deal with loose ends such as you."

"So you came to destroy me," John said bluntly. "Can you at least tell me, how did I get here? I certain this is not where the voice wanted me to go."

"The voice?" the man chuckled. "That's what you call him? The voice?"

"Wait, you know who he is?" John said eagerly.

"You don't?" the man was astounded. "He didn't tell you?" Then he grinned. "You are interesting. You don't even know what he is."

John glared at him. "Stop playing around! Just tell me who he is!"

The man just kept smiling at him. "Very pushy aren't we? You don't know the danger you are in."

"I'm done listening to you!" John summoned his Keyblade and pointed at the other man. "I am taking you out right now!"

"So you finally make your move," the man said. "Okay then. Let's go!" He summoned a giant sword to his hand.

John dove towards the other and slashed at him with his Keyblade. The man blocked with his sword and they began to duel, cutting, slicing, and hacking, looking an opening to destroy the other. Suddenly, the man knocked John's Keyblade out of the way and he brought his sword around to behead John, but the younger boy was to quick for him and he back flipped out of the way just in time. The man brought his sword in a downward slice towards John's head and John just narrowly swung his Keyblade up to block. The man pressed down and forced John down on a knee.

"I was wondering why Keyblade ever choose you," the man said. "Why would it choose a weak boy with no memories? Did you have some kind of special power? Now I know why. It made a mistake. You don't have any power. The only reason you have escaped us this long is because of the one you call 'the voice'."

John eyes hardened. "Don't…call…me…weak!" He pushed with all his might and he shoved the man off balance. John leapt high into the air and raised the Keyblade above his head. He swung it down to destroy the other, but the man jumped back just in time to dodge. The Keyblade was moving too fast for John to stop it and it struck the concrete, smashing a hole in it.

The man smiled as he observed John. The boy was barely standing; his legs were wobbling with exhaustion. "You're pathetic. All that and you didn't even land a blow on me. I should destroy you right now." The man raised his sword…and it vanished. "But I won't. I must admit, you are very interesting boy. Here, you can have this." The man raised his hand and a small ball of light floated over to John, who caught it. "That's a gate to another world," the man explained. "It should answer all of your questions. Be warned though, there are several Heartless in that world. Farewell." The man then turned around, a door appeared in front of him, and he walked through it.

John examined the ball of light he was holding. "_Should I use this_?" he wondered. "_It could be a trap, but that man could have destroyed me just as easily right now if he had wanted to_." Suddenly the mist, that surrounded the artificial world, began to close in on the concrete slab. John quickly activated the ball of light, creating the door, and he dove into it. John once more found himself falling through worlds, but this time when he fell through the gate at the end he landed in a patch of grass. He stood and looked around. It seemed that he had fallen into the middle of a park.

"_John, where are you_?" it was the voice. He sounded worried. "_Please answer me John_!"

"I'm okay," John said. "What happened back there? One moment I was talking to you then you stopped answering me, and then I ended up in an artificial world."

"_It would seem someone disrupted my warp gate I opened for you_," the voice replied. "_They were the ones who changed your destination. What happened in there anyways_?" the voice asked.

"I fought one of memory stealers again," John replied. "Weird thing was, he let me go even after I lost to him."

"_He let you go_?" the voice was astounded. "_That sounds suspicious. Okay, I'm locking onto your position now. I don't want you making any more side trips. Wait, how did you get to that world_?"

"The memory guy gave me the gate to this world," John explained.

"_You went through it_?" the voice roared. "_What's wrong with you_?"

"Well, the artificial world started to collapse on me," John replied carefully. "I really didn't have much of a choice."

"_Can you just stand still for at least two minutes_?" the voice said exasperatedly. "_I'm almost there_."

As John waited he examined his surroundings more carefully. The park he was standing in seemed familiar…wait, he did remember this place. It was part of the artificial world his memories had created. How had that man gotten his hands on it? Had they gotten their hands on some of John's memories? This wasn't looking good…

The voice floated down to John in its ball of light form. "I'm here John." Then it noticed the look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"It's this place…" John said slowly. "I-I remember being here, back when you brought me to the world my memories created. We passed by this spot, didn't we?"

"Yes," the voice said. "We did. What's your point?"

"I got this world from that memory stealer…does that mean that they have some of my memories?" John looked at the voice desperately. "Please tell me! Do they have my memories yet?"

"No," the voice said. "At least, they don't have all your memories. Your memories are in a safe place but I must tell you, if they had all of your memories then you wouldn't be here. They would have you under their control. That's how they work."

"But where are my memories?" John said. "Can't you just tell me?"

"No," the voice said simply. "I will not. Remember this, if they get their hands on you then they could find out where your memories are hidden."

John halted. "We have visitors," he said calmly. Heartless burst out of the ground and quickly surrounded them. "Five shadows, three soldiers, and three air soldiers. Hmmm, that's a lot. They must not be too happy with us."

The voice launched a lightning bolt at a shadow and the Heartless exploded. "Four shadows," the voice corrected. "I'll deal with the air soldiers. You go at the ground troops."

"Right," John nodded. He ran up to a soldier and cut it in half. Two shadows jumped at John but he simply ducked, then slashed them when they landed. A soldier spun at John but he stepped to the side and sliced it as it passed. "_Three Heartless left_," John thought to himself. He sighed. "It's always the same thing. I can beat Heartless easy, but when I face a real challenge…I'm so weak…" John readied himself for the Heartless to attack, but before they could fire and lightning blasted them to pieces.

"What's wrong now?" the voice asked him.

"I was just thinking," John replied. "Voice, is there somewhere I can learn to fight better? Do you know a world where I could learn? I'm just so tired of having someone else save me whenever I'm in trouble."

"Yes, there is a world," the voice told him. "I'll take you there soon but let's see what's on this world first."

"Okay," John said. They moved through the park slowly taking in everything. They halted as a figure appeared in front of them. "Here we go," John said. The figure turned out to be a teenage boy. He looked around himself quickly then ran off as if someone was chasing him. He vanished after running past John and the voice. "Well, that was informative," John said sarcastically. The he frowned. "Although I must admit, that guy did seem familiar in someway…" They kept walking but they didn't see anyone else. "If this world is so important then why is no one here?" John said, frustrated.

"Calm down John," the voice said. "Something is coming again." This time two elderly ladies appeared and they started whispering together. Suddenly a young girl, who looked only a year or two younger then John, walked up to the ladies and they stopped whispering.

"Have you seen my brother?" the girl asked them. "He's run off again."

"No we haven't," one of the ladies replied. "Sorry."

The girl sighed. "You were talking about him weren't you? I know you were because that's all anyone talks about anymore. I just wish he would calm down! If he doesn't…" Her voice trailed off. Suddenly all three of them turned around. They had spotted something in the distance. "No…he couldn't have…" the girl ran off in direction they were all looking and the three figures faded away.

"That was interesting," the voice said. Then he noticed the look on John's face. "I know it's hard but…"

John spun around and glared furiously at the voice. "You don't know anything! That was me they were talking about, remember? These are my memories…" John sat down. "What did I do? It's so hard because I don't even know who I was!"

"I could just open a world gate and we could leave," the voice said gently.

John looked up, his eyes hardening. "No, I'm staying. I want to know what I've done. I can't leave now." He stood up and ran off in the direction the people had been looking. After several minutes he stopped and looked around. "Where did she go?" Suddenly several people began to appear around him, and the building he was standing next to burst into flames.

"What's going on?" it was the girl from before. She was looking at the building stunned. "Who did this?"

A man turned around wearily to give her a pitying look. "It was him. Your brother."

The girl looked at him disbelievingly. "He couldn't have! Even he wouldn't have gone this far! How do you even know this? How can you be so sure?"

"I saw him do it. The fire was started in my room. I'm so sorry." The man whipped back around as someone ran up calling his name. "What is it?"

"There's someone still in the building!" the person replied. "We can't get them out!" They all spun around to see a person standing at one of the top windows. It was a young, pre-teen age boy.

"We have to get him out now!" a bystander shouted. However, before anyone could anything there was an explosion and the whole building shook. People screamed when they noticed that the boy had been thrown from the building. He fell…fell…fell…

"No…" John whispered. He now knew what he had done. "NO!" That was when the voice arrived. He found John sitting on the ground, sobbing.

"Perhaps we should go…" the voice said quietly. John didn't even look up. He simply nodded and walked towards the doorway that the voice created for him. For one moment John stopped. He looked back behind himself, but it was over. The street was empty. The building was no longer burning. He then turned back to the doorway and stepped through it.

EN

I think this was probably my best chapter yet! But don't take my word for it. Review and tell me what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Hyrule

The voice could see that John was numb to the world. The boy was wandering aimlessly, ignoring everything around him although it was a beautiful forest that they were in. This wasn't like him, usually he would be excited to explore a new world. The voice sighed and floated back to its partner to speak with him. "Okay John, wake up. That's enough moping around for one day."

John stared at the voice with a tormented look on his face. "I killed someone. And I didn't even know…" He sat down on a rock.

"Oh grow up," the voice snapped. John looked up at him in surprise. "Someone's dead," the voice continued. "Because of a stupid mistake you made. Think about it though, that was not you! True it may have been you at one point, but the John I know now would never murder someone. You're a good person not a homicidal maniac!"

"I don't know," John muttered. "I'm having a lot of trouble with this one." He stood, brushed himself off, and continued on through the forest. BOOM! John hit the ground hard. "Ow…what's going on?" He leapt up a tree and looked around the forest. "There!" he pointed to a pillar of smoke. He jumped back down to the ground and set off towards in the direction he had seen the smoke. Soon, he found the reason for the explosion. John was standing in the middle of a small village. All around him, children were running in terror from a group of Heartless, which were attack everyone near them.

"This isn't good," the voice said. "Get ready John. John!" The boy wasn't listening. His eyes were clouded with rage and he dove into the army of Heartless.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" John shouted as he cut a creeper plant in half. He cut his way through three shadows and dove on a soldier. The remaining Heartless dove into the ground and vanished. John stood up, he was panting hard. The voice floated over to him and John collapsed. "I'm so tired." John closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"I told you leaving the world that I created for you would bring you pain," the voice whispered. "But I never imagined how much…"

John found himself floating in darkness. "Welcome back," a deep voice boomed around him. The darkness started to cover him but he didn't fight it. "What's wrong? Not going to fight me?" the deep voice said.

"I don't care," John whispered. "Do what you want. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Hmmm, you're strange boy," the deep voice said. "You willingly allow the darkness to swallow you. Why is this?"

"It doesn't matter," John repeated.

"Yes, it does," John looked over to see a girl standing beside him. She emanated a light that kept the darkness at bay.

"You," John gasped. "You were the one from my memories! You're, my sister…"

The girl gave him a soft smile. "Yes, I am. Please, John, don't give up. You can't. I know there is still good in you." She held her hand out to him. "Please, take my hand. Don't give in to the darkness."

"No! John listen to me," it was the deep voice. "This is your future. Your heart lies in darkness. Stay here where it's safe."

John's eyes widened. "_That voice sounds almost like_…" he reached out towards the girl.

"Why John?" the deep voice sounded sorrowful. "Why would you defy your own destiny?"

"Because, all the darkness offered me is gone," John said. "And all you gave me were lies. I know who you are now." The light that surrounded the girl enveloped John and he suddenly awoke. He was lying in the middle of the small village. He stood gingerly. Yes, he knew what the darkness was. He knew who was trying to control him. There were two voices, one that offered him guidance and protected him, and one that was trying to destroy him with darkness. Why didn't he see it before?

"Voice? Where are you?" John called. There wasn't an answer. He hadn't expected that the voice would stick around. A fool, that was what he had been, a fool. Two voices, it was just so obvious. They were the same person. Something that the dark voice had said clued him in. What was it? Oh, yeah, 'Stay here where it is safe'. "_That's what the voice that protected me said_," John thought to himself. "_He never wanted me to be safe. I bet he was working for the memory stealers all along_." John left the village and walked on through the forest. "It's all over then," he muttered to himself. "I can't get to other worlds on my own."

He left the forest and stepped out onto a flatland on the other side. He walked across the flatland observing everything around him. It was barren except for sparse vegetation that he could see in the distance. He walked for several hours, then, he saw a small settlement up ahead. As he came near to it he realized that it was a ranch. The gate was open so he went inside. He walked past the buildings at the entrance of the ranch and entered the main area. To his left was a small flock of chickens feeding. Straight in front of him was a fenced in area with about five or six horses grazing. As he watched the horses a strange feeling of loneliness swept over him.

"Hello, who are you?" John turned to see a young, red haired woman standing behind him.

"My name is John," he replied. "Are you the owner of this place? It's beautiful."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. Actually, my dad owns the place, but I help him run it. He's away right now but he'll be back soon. Oh, my name's Malon by the way." John sighed and looked at the horses and the feeling of loneliness increased. "What's wrong?" Malon asked.

"How would you like it if someone you thought was your friend betrayed your trust?" John said with a touch of hardness in his voice.

"It would hurt, but I think," Malon said carefully. "That I would try to find my friend and ask them why they did what they did. There may be more to the betrayal then you know."

"I'm not so sure…" John muttered.

They stood there for a few minutes in silence. "Well, do you like horses?" Malon asked.

John was caught off guard for a moment. "Sure," he said carefully. "I guess so."

"Come on," Malon said. She led him over to the horse pen, opened it, and they both walked in. John forgot his troubles for the next few minutes as she taught him how to get on to, and ride a horse. To John's surprise, he found this to be very easy. "You must be a natural," Malon told him partway through the lesson. John was riding at a swift trot around the fence when a man wearing overalls came running towards Malon. They spoke quickly for a moment, and then Malon beckoned John over to them. He rode towards them quickly and jumped off the horse.

"What's going on?" John asked Malon.

"It's the Heartless," Malon said with fear in her eyes. "Ingo here saw them coming into the ranch. We have to get out of here now!"

Suddenly the Heartless burst out of the ground and surrounded them. They moved forward slowly as John backed up with Malon and Ingo.

"_This isn't good_," John thought to himself. "_I can't let these two get hurt_." He gritted his teeth. "Malon! You and Ingo have to get out of here."

"How?" Malon said nervously. "We're surrounded!"

John snapped his fingers. "That's it!" He grabbed Malon around the waist and hoisted her onto the horse he had been riding. "Ingo," John said to the farmhand. "Take Malon out of here. Ride over the Heartless. They shouldn't be able to stop you if you move fast enough." Ingo nodded, and jumped onto the horse behind Malon.

"What about you?" Malon asked. "How will you escape?"

"I'm not escaping," John said. He slapped the horse and it charged through the Heartless's ranks, knocking them aside. John watched them go, and then he summoned his Keyblade and readied himself for battle. "_Six soldiers_," he smiled. "_The Heartless are slipping. This isn't a challenge_."

The first soldier spun towards John and kicked at him, but he stepped to the side and stabbed the Heartless. John then slashed another soldier, which was sneaking up behind its comrade, and he turned around bringing his Keyblade in a circle to force the other Heartless back. He then dove behind the line of soldiers in front of him and cut one in half as he went. As he stood back up a soldier kicked him in the back, causing him to stumble forward into the fist of another. He doubled over; all the wind had been knocked out of him. He heard Malon shout something, but he ignored her and destroyed the soldier that had punched him. He charged towards the soldier that had kicked him and he cut its legs out of under it. Then he thrust his Keyblade into its chest and it exploded. The last soldier tackled him from behind and they both tumbled to the ground. He rolled over before the Heartless could get a hold on him and he stood up over it, raised his Keyblade above his head, and slammed it home into the soldier. He sat down and closed his eyes.

"Are you all right?" he opened his eyes to see Malon staring down at him with concern.

"I'm okay," John said. "I was just resting." He stood back up and turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied smiling at him. "That was amazing. You fight just like him."

John blushed. "Thanks, I…" Then he frowned. "Wait, him?"

"Oh, I never told you I guess," Malon said. "Well, there is this fairy warrior who has been helping this land. Not so long ago, Ingo gained control this ranch. He was always so mean to the animals, and me. Then that warrior came. Ingo challenged him to a horse race where the winner would gain a lot of money from the other. That warrior won the race and Ingo challenged him again but for higher stakes. The warrior still won." Malon looked down at the ground. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but the warrior really changed Ingo. He's not so cruel anymore. I owe him…"

John's eyes widened. "He sounds cool. I'd like to meet him. Do you know where he is?"

Malon looked back at John. "I'm not certain, but the warrior's horse was here not so long before you arrived. The horse was eating but she left quickly for some reason. I think she went in that direction." Malon pointed southwest of the ranch. "You could try there."

John nodded. "I think I will. Thanks again Malon." He turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.

"Wait, it's a long journey," she said hesitantly. "I know I can trust you so if you would like, you can borrow one of the horses."

"Alright then," John said. "I'll take the one I was riding before." He climbed onto the horse's back and rode out of the ranch.

Malon waved as he rode away. "Goodbye," she whispered. "Be safe."

EN

Sorry it took so long to update. (Nine whole days. I think that's a new record for me) Anyways, how did you like this chapter? This is for all the people who are video game nuts: John is in future part The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Recognize it?


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